Unsaved Property of Edit Form Is Always True

[mdevaney]

The Unsaved property of my Edit Form form always has a value of true, even when I have made no changes. My form is in FormMode.Edit.

As a test I created a button with this code in the OnSelect property.  The Edit Form still shows Unsaved as true after I click the button

ResetForm(Form1);

---
Please click "Accept as Solution" if my post answered your question so that others may find it more quickly. If you found this post helpful consider giving it a "Thumbs Up." 

[james_hathaway]

I see that we're 6 months later, and still no fix, or even a response from Microsoft....

Just to let you all know that I'm still having major issues with Form.Unsaved - it is simply not usable.

@v-bofeng-msft - Please can we have some sort of response from Microsoft?

James.

[appyourdata]

Hi guys,

I think I found a possible workaround. I included a ResetForm(FormWithTheIssue) on the Onvisible of the screen where the form is located.

That seems to have fixed my issue.

Hope it helps

Manuel

[biterbit]

I don't think that a form reset is a universal solution. Having hit this issue, I added a button with an OnSelect property of ResetForm(formName) and the form's Unsaved property remains true . My experience is that loading a record into a form sets the Unsaved property to true, and this remains even after a form reset. The Unsaved property is only set to false when the form is first in New mode.

[sguthrie1]

One thing I've notice that can cause the .Unsaved property to not behave as expected is default values.  This is because after the form is loaded it sets the defaults.  If these defaults differ from what is stored in the data source (SharePoint in my case) then it will consider the data changed.  Ultimately, I believe the .Unsaved property is only triggered when something on the field on the form differs from what is in the database and that by coding things certain ways you can have unintended consequences that cause this to happen.

The best solution to avoid this is to move away from the use of form using the Submit command and move to using Patch, which will give you much more control over when things are determined as Saved or Not Saved as well as other aspects of programming in PowerApps.  While I still use forms occasionally, it is when I just want to do something quick.  Anything that is going to be a long term solution for users I believe you'll want to migrate or start with the Patch method of saving your data.  Doing so will save you a lot of headaches.  Not to mention it is much easier to change your data source from say Sharepoint to SQLServer using this instead of the Form with Submit.

Hope this helps,
Steve

[sguthrie1]

I posted this above as a reply, but meant it for you: 

One thing I've notice that can cause the .Unsaved property to not behave as expected is default values.  This is because after the form is loaded it sets the defaults.  If these defaults differ from what is stored in the data source (SharePoint in my case) then it will consider the data changed.  Ultimately, I believe the .Unsaved property is only triggered when something on the field on the form differs from what is in the database and that by coding things certain ways you can have unintended consequences that cause this to happen.

The best solution to avoid this is to move away from the use of form using the Submit command and move to using Patch, which will give you much more control over when things are determined as Saved or Not Saved as well as other aspects of programming in PowerApps.  While I still use forms occasionally, it is when I just want to do something quick.  Anything that is going to be a long term solution for users I believe you'll want to migrate or start with the Patch method of saving your data.  Doing so will save you a lot of headaches.  Not to mention it is much easier to change your data source from say Sharepoint to SQLServer using this instead of the Form with Submit.

Hope this helps,
Steve

[Matren]

Hello Folks and @mdevaney @WarrenBelz ,

It's 2023 and I came across the same issue. I would love to use the Unsaved property to detect whenever a user makes changes to a field when editing a form; however, the Unsaved property remains True for me as well. Thus, I'm searching for workarounds without having to redesign the whole application.

Use Case: Do not allow the form to be saved without the user making a change to a field. If the user enters changes to a field, then a submit form icon will appear. Currently I have 70+ fields all with different data validation. 

Thoughts? 

[james_hathaway]

So yes, now its March 2023 - 2 Years since my last post on this subject!

and Yes, guess what - the Form.Unsaved property is still a huge BUG, and I never use it.

My current standard process is to add a Toggle (set to invisible) and set a giant formula in the Toggle.Default property. I then use Toggle.Value to see if the Form needs saving or not.

Not ideal at all, but I've gotten used to it now, and can actually be really helpful when debugging issues!

James.

[Matren]

Hi @james_hathaway,

Yes, reading through the messages this continues to be an issue. From the other posts above, I did investigate the default property for my fields, and they do contain code that I need for my app to work. So there are cases when the default property is different than what is in my datasource.

Instead of using the default property, it would be nice if there was a property that would compare the Selected record's fields to the current data card values, and if any are any differences then the property would change from false to true. Like you, I now have to write a large amount of code, and stick it in the DisplayMode for my Save button, disabling it to prevent the user from saving the form with no changes. Otherwise, when a user reviews the version history showing changes for a form, it is confusing that there are different versions with no changes. 

I'm waiting for a few more responses, but I would recommend submitting this as an idea so it can be voted upon and enacted by Microsoft.

Best,

Matren

[james_hathaway]

Hi Matren,

When you say you'd like:

"a property that would compare the Selected record's fields to the current data card values, and if any are any differences then the property would change from false to true."

You mean a function like "Form.Unsaved" ?

Yes - it would be really nice if PowerApps had a function like that....

[Matren]

Hi @james_hathaway, Yes, exactly.

Hi @mdevaney , @WarrenBelz , @biterbit , @subsguts ,@sguthrie1, and everyone,

Apparently, an idea has already been created for this issue!

Please click the link to vote for it!

https://ideas.powerapps.com/d365community/idea/7f43c858-66a5-4365-8d85-a3b5d578457f

Thanks,
Matren